|
You are here: Home
> Kids
> Safety
Information for Kids > Instant
Messaging Safety > Instant
Messenger Clients > Trillian
TrillianWhat is Trillian? Trillian is NOT a separate messaging service, but in fact it is a Unified Messaging Service, i.e; in simple terms,it just connects to the various existing messaging services like MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM and also has IRC connectivity. The advantage being, you can connect to all these networks, at the same instant of time, using just one client, Trillian. There are certain disadvantages like for example AOL does not appear to want anyone using Trillian to connect to their AIM service and have disconnected users in the past for the same. On the other hand, Microsoft supports Trillian. In fact the coders of Trillian were informed about changes being made to Microsoft's systems, which would have affected Trillian adversely and the story goes on As with all IM services, stand-alone or UMSs (like Trillian) the main thing the users have to be worried about is privacy and how to block a user or buddy who is causing problems. Trillian has NO separate system of its own as such to block people and very cleverly employs the same systems used by various companies. For Example, If you wanted to Ignore a person on MSN, Trillian has a list system that looks very similar to MSN Messengers' and hence that user is Ignored. Trillian has separate Privacy Preferences for each and every IM and IRC as well and we shall look into them in detail very soon. An added Plus would be the ability of Trillian to LOG all chat windows (if the setting is active). TRILLIAN: AN OVERVIEW The main window of Trillian looks like this The + with a blue circle on top is the button to add new contacts, The small blue envelope is for setting away messages, The computer icon is the Connection manager and the last icon shows whether or not you have any pending events. This line of icons is followed by the user list, i.e. your buddies and friends on various IM services and after that you shall see 5 small circular icons, which are for (in order) AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN and Yahoo!. They change to their respective colors (e.g. Yellow for AOL, Green for ICQ and so on) when a connection is established to that particular service. Just to the left and below of the AIM icon, you will see a big globe - this CAN be called your control center, as it gives access to ALL basic functions including Connections, Away messages and most important of all Preferences . TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES The preferences menu, when opened up at first looks like this. ALL options settings in Trillian are controlled by this menu and all changes are be made here. Note that you have two options on Preferences
TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> AIM -> PRIVACY The window to set AIM's privacy preferences looks like this. This is reached by clicking on the + sign next to AIM under Chatting Services and then clicking on Privacy. 1) The first option is a Drop Down box saying "Apply Settings to:"...When connected to the Internet, This box will have your nickname with which you are now connected to that IM service, which then has to be selected here. The setting that you make are active and set for that specific nick (which you specified in the box) If you have two nicks, make sure you repeat the procedure to get the setting you desire on both nicks. 2) The boxes below under the title "Who can contact me" , is where the actual blocking of unwanted users is done. You can select which people to "allow" to contact you by selecting the radio button "Allow only users on the contact list" OR "Allow only the users below" and click on add name and enter their screen name. 3) To BLOCK a person (Ignore), You can select "Block the Users below", then click on Add Name and add the screen name of the person whom you wish to block. The "Block ALL Users" option will put EVERYONE on Ignore..so use this only in extreme cases(this is as good as NOT CONNECTING). The "Block AIM Users" will block ALL Users using AIM. 4) The "Allow Users to see..." option is best if TURNED OFF ALWAYS (off as in NO tick/check mark in the "...how long I have been idle" box) 5) The "Allow users who know my e-mail address to find.." option should be set to "Nothing about me" for best privacy. TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> AIM -> DIRECT IM For best security and privacy, you need not allow ANY Direct IM. If you still feel the need for Direct IM it is advisable to select the Display Approve Dialog radio button Under the sub menu "For Users on my contact list". It is best to disable this option "For users not on my contact list" i.e.; set it to Don't Allow . TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> AIM -> CHAT Again for Extra Security, Set to Block ALL Incoming Chat invitations (make sure there is a tick/check mark in the box next to it). This means that you will not receive ANY invitations. TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> AIM -> MISC a) There is a box with a Port number for outbound file transfers....recommended
action: Leave Alone unless you are an advanced user and you know what
you are doing. NOTE: Trillian THEMSELVES are not 100% sure about the success of this SecureIM and recommend that you disable the same, if you are having "flaky" connections to AOL. TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> ICQ -> PRIVACY The ICQ privacy setting window looks like this. This is reached by clicking on the + sign next to ICQ under Chatting Services and then clicking on Privacy.
TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> ICQ -> IGNORE LIST This is where the actual "Ignoring" takes place. Any User once added to this list is completely Ignored and all attempt they make to contact you/send messages WILL NOT BE seen by you and will be blocked. Clicking the ADD button, Displays a box to enter the UIN of the user you want to ignore. After entering the UIN and clicking on OK, the user is completely ignored. TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> ICQ -> MISC Again as the name implies, this is the place to set a few miscellaneous things. The first two boxes i.e.; General and Direct Connection should be left alone. There is an additional Trillian capability called "SecureIM". This is basically very very similar to DCC on IRC or Direct IM on AIM, the ONLY two differences being this SecureIM is secured through 128 bit encryption (Trillian uses Blowfish encryption with a Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange) which means a normal hacker will not be able to see what the chat is about. The second difference is that SecureIM IS ONLY ALLOWED between TWO TRILLIAN USERS ! i.e.; If a friend of yoursuses ICQ not ICQ through Trillian, the two of you CANNOT have a "SecureIM". TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> IRC -> The various menus Under IRC are DCC, Friend/Enemy, Ignore List and Miscellaneous. DCC is for setting up DCC Chat options, Friend/Enemy is to add a Friend or Enemy. The Ignore List by far seems the best. It looks like this. This is a very well designed one, as you can individually select where to put the person on Ignore, whether on PMs, Invites or Notices or CTCP's and so on. The misc setting area is used to set most Operator settings, like default ban type, kick message and Flood Protection etc. TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> MSN -> PRIVACY MSN has a Very simple privacy setting Interface and follows the Idea of the Allow and Block System. Users you want to Allow should be on your allow list and those you don't want to allow should be on your Block List.
TRILLIAN: PREFERENCES -> CHATTING SERVICES -> YAHOO -> PRIVACY Yahoo! also follows a very simple Ignore function and is slightly different from the one on MSN. This is reached by clicking on the + sign next to Yahoo! under Chatting Services and then clicking on Privacy.
IMPORTANT NOTE: BEFORE USING TRILLIAN GOTO PREFERENCES -> GENERAL -> MESSAGE HISTORY The settings should be:
|
